LP Freak":10mu0e8l said:
Who makes a true bypass chorus pedal that sounds good with clean and dirty tones? I'm not looking for some boutique pedal for $400.
Honestly I don't really know what to recommend, otherwise I'd stop my quest for chorus effects ages ago. I'm still trying to fine-tune a chorus sound to work with dirty tones, while still sounding warm & deep. I don't like that bright tinkly chorus sound.
The Visual Sound H2O Liquid Chorus & Echo (older version) sounds warm & lovely for clean tones, but can get a bit soupy and swashy with dirty tones. It has both a Width & Delay Time knob so you can make it sound as wide and warbly as you want. Personally I love the wide & really warbly sound for clean, but it doesn't work so well for dirt.
The H2O might be okay for some slight grit but for full on gain it can get a bit much if used too often. Might be okay for one song as a novelty. But it will pick up any noise and swish it like a stormy sea when turned on.
The Neunaber Chroma is a pretty cool mono output pedal, in fact it's a micro pitch-shifter (Eventide-in-a-box) rather than a chorus pedal. It actually works quite well for dirty tones as it doesn't muddy the bottom end as much, and does have a Mix control. It's a "static" chorus so won't get the swishyness like the H2O. It sounds a little cold for clean tones on its own, but can be used to create a really lush sound when used in conjunction (either series or parallel) with another chorus device. I have one and it is working well, but still need to fine-tune my settings a bit. I can get a bit fussy sometimes...
For a lot of others it'd probably work fine.
They have a Stereo version now but it won't be able to out out a 100% wet signal. To me that's crucial for a stereo sound, so I'm sticking to the Mono version and will just use it in a stereo setup on one side of the signal.
I really love the Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger by Electro Harmonix. It's my favourite "chorus" for clean tones and sounds great on lead passages. Can also get a bit swoopy & choke up your signal a bit for dirty rhythms if you're doing a lot of "chugga chugga", but great for some Pink Floyd-y sort of stuff, e.g.
Young Lust.